Couture designer Guo Pei: Chinese elements make me unique in the world

Original title: Guo Pei, a well-known clothing couture designer, was interviewed by the Global Times

The Chinese element makes me unique in the world

Guo Pei's 2006 reincarnation series Daikin

Reporter Chen Qian

At international auctions, you can see some luxury brands' ingenious haute couture clothing, but you can hardly see the figure of Chinese couture. But that's changing. A few days ago, Sotheby's Auction House officially announced that it will join hands with Chinese designer Guo Pei to display some of its designed clothing at the auction. This is the first time Sotheby's has auctioned Haute Couture clothing from China as a work of art. Before that, Guo Pei had just finished her Fall/Winter 2019-2020 haute couture fashion show in Paris, bringing the latest theme "Otherworld" to the eyes of the international public. How does Guo Pei define couture? In a black midi dress and a pair of vintage glasses hanging from her chest, Guo Pei's studio in Beijing, Rose Fang, told the Global Times reporter about her understanding of couture and her views on the Chinese brand's move to the international stage.

The future of haute couture is art

Guo Pei, who has been engaged in clothing design for more than 30 years, said that she is a kind of growth in exploring couture. "I started out doing mass-produced ready-to-wear, not making private custom clothes, and not having the concept of haute couture. Until a client approached me and asked me to tailor a dress for her. Guo Pei told the Global Times reporter that at the beginning she was a little reluctant and felt a little overkill, "but when I saw her put on the clothes I designed, the whole person's temperament and state became better, I felt that I was doing a meaningful thing, and this joy was different from my feeling of doing mass-produced ready-to-wear." ”

Slowly, Guo Pei began to accept private customization services to create beautiful shapes for customers. But at that time, she didn't know what haute couture was, but she told herself that she could keep doing this and that it was very happy to do so. "Later, I designed more clothes and slowly accumulated experience, and I realized that I had entered the ranks of haute couture."

Guo Said she was happy recently when sotheby's people approached her and asked if she could cooperate. "I was touched by the fact that they saw my design as a work of art, and that the members of the French Haute Couture Guild were slowly agreeing with it."

80% vs 20%

From the beginning of ignorance, to insist on doing his own design, Guo Pei used his beliefs and works to convince the world, and even pushed Couture to a new positioning, that is, Couture is not only clothing, but also an art.

"When I was doing my first show, many people, especially many Asian designers, advised me, 'Guo Pei, the clothes you design are great, but your show should be at least 80% clothes that can be worn every day, plus 20% haute couture clothes, so that you can make a profit and continue to support your next show!'"

By the time of the second show, Guo Pei's friends had suggested that she design 20% of the clothes she wore every day and 80% of the clothes she wanted to customize. "The two percentages swapped positions and I was changing their perception of me. After that, no one came back to discuss this issue with me. I know that my persistence and efforts have not been in vain, and everyone has begun to agree with my view that couture is art," Guo Pei said excitedly.

Guo Pei said that couture and luxury brands are not the same, although many big names in the world come from the United States, but at present, among the more than 30 members of the French Couture Guild, none of the designers are from the United States, which shows how harsh the selection of couture is. Guo Pei said that most of her designs, whether it is a performance dress designed for the Spring Festival Gala or a wedding dress designed for stars, have a wealth of Chinese elements, which is why she can be unique in international couture.

Chinese brands tend to be internationalized

"Couture is only for a very small number of people, although couture can not be popularized, but China's private customized services have shown regional development." Guo Pei said that especially in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, many young people like to wear clothes with a strong sense of design, and this demand has promoted the development of the domestic clothing customization industry.

"China's comprehensive national strength and economic level are improving, and the consumption level of Chinese is also rising steadily, which makes Chinese brands have a large market in China." With this market foundation, it is also an inevitable trend for Chinese brands to go global. Guo Pei said that if Chinese brands want to gain a foothold in the international market, their design works need to have Chinese characteristics and rely on Chinese culture, including Traditional Chinese Culture and Contemporary Culture.

"I feel like a happy woman because my career is exactly what I love. When I am 90 years old, I will come out to close the curtain," Guo Pei said with a smile, as if he was looking forward to the future in his eyes.